Abstract

Lactic acid bacteria produce several exopolysaccharides (EPS) that may have antimicrobial action and/or induce defense responses in plants. This work aims to evaluate the potential of EPS produced by Lactobacillus plantarum in the protection of tomato plants against bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas gardneri, as well as to predict the possible mechanisms of action. The EPS were characterized through FTIR and applied at 0; 0.5; 1.5 and 3.0 mg mL^-1 in tomato plants with five expanded leaves, followed by the pathogen inoculation after 3 or 7 days. Antimicrobial activity of the biopolymer (1.5 or 10.0 mg mL^-1) was evaluated in bioassay when EPS was incorporated into culture medium or embedded in antibiogram disk. The defense mechanisms i.e., total phenolic compounds and flavonoids content, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), glutathione reductase (GR) and lipoxygenase (LOX) activities, were measured in tomato plants treated with EPS (1.5 mg mL^-1), inoculated or not with X. gardneri. EPS reduced bacterial spot symptoms by up to 72.0% compared to the control. There were no direct effects of EPS on the in vitro growth of X. gardneri. The spectrophotometric profile, ascorbic and ellagic acid concentrations were change in tomato plants after EPS application, in plants challenged with the pathogen. Increases in PAL, GR and LOX activities were observed in plants treated with EPS. Thus, the application of L. plantarum exopolysaccharides can be considered as an effective alternative for controlling bacterial spot in tomato plants. This paper also discusses how these exopolysaccharides reduced the severity of the disease.

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